Cry, Baby, Cry
by My Written Words
Summary: "Masen. I was born a Masen and raised a Masen. It was my surname, my 'treasure' and duty as the only child, only male, to pass it on. And yet my name was a curse bestowed upon me from the one I hated most: my father." -Edward Masen, Jr. AH, AU, Graphic Abuse, Dark/Adult Themes
1. Introduction To a Broken Life

Chapter 1: Introduction to a Broken Life

"Masen. I was born a Masen and raised a Masen. It was my surname, my 'treasure' and duty as the only child, only male, to pass it on. And yet my name was a curse bestowed upon me from the one I hated most: my father."

~Edward Masen, Jr.

When my mother died when I was eight, my father became a drunk. It was at this age that my life became a horrid, tangled mess of pain and emptiness. I could predict each day of my life: I would wake up, go to school, come home, get beaten, make dinner, get beaten, and go to bed. I would hear my father sneak out not long after I would go to bed and not return until the early hours of the morning. As soon as he arrived, I would cringe under my dirty, bloodied sheets and pray that I would, for once avoid the inevitable. It was a rare and joyous occasion when I would. My father would stomp up the steps and into my bedroom, ripping me from the warmth of my disgusting bed and take out his anger of life on me. Often times, while he was doing this, he'd curse me, telling me he hated me for killing my mother. Though my father hit me everywhere, he liked to target my face. He always said that I didn't deserve to look like her. He would mangle my face beyond recognition, beat me, hit me until I was black and blue, until I spit out blood, until I could no longer see due to the swelling of my cheeks. When he was finally satisfied, he collapsed in his bedroom, leaving me sobbing in a puddle of my own blood.

For two years, I begged for forgiveness. Longed for the love he used to show me. I would plead; cry as he hit me, telling him I loved him, that I didn't mean to kill her, that I was sorry. These pathetic attempts at apologies only resulted in more brutal beatings. I wasn't worthy of forgiveness, love, or relief. I was only worthy of pain, hate, and hardships.

It was when I was ten that I finally gave up, surrendering into the dark, painful recesses of my brain, the part that showed me endless memories of _her_, my mother. I honestly didn't mean to kill her. But, of course, her death was on my own hands. I begged her to take me to the park, forced her to drive the long way home in an attempt to scoundrel ice cream from her. I didn't call for help after she crashed into the tree. I lay in the backseat of the car, crumbled into a ball and splashed with both her blood and my own. I merely stared wide-eyed and frozen at my mother who screamed at me to get out of the car and run. After much yelling, I finally snapped out of my shock induced trance and obeyed my mother's orders. I ran, ran as fast as I could, until the black car and the smell of fire and smoke disappeared behind me.

I ended up collapsing a few miles from the place of the accident. How I managed to make it so far, I'll never know, but I did.

"Hey!" Someone shook me awake. I opened my eyes to meet those of a female stranger. "Are you okay, sweetie? What happened?"

My forehead creased and something wet dripped down into my eyes. I wiped at it unthinkingly and was met with an unbearable pain. I began crying instantly; the pain, mixed with confusion and fear became too much for my eight year old mind. I broke down in front of that kind stranger, sobbing loudly, for I knew no better.

"Hey, it's okay. Just…just tell me what happened," she pleaded, her eyes alert with worry. The poor girl couldn't have been older than 20.

"Momma!" I sobbed over and over, my frantic eyes searching the area for her, but coming up short.

"Where is she?" The woman beseeched me now, but I was too young to comprehend what was going on.

"I want my mommy!" I was begging, pleading with the woman.

She sighed, "I don't know where she is, honey."

This only made me cry harder. The woman called the police, and apparently, they had already found my mother, dead and charred on the side of a random road. Of course, I didn't find this out until much later. My father was the one to tell me.

Naturally, I didn't quite understand. I knew she was gone, and this made me heartbroken. But, what was death? And…why couldn't she come back? Didn't she love us anymore?

3rd grade started up. By now my father had already become fully dependent on alcohol. And, therefore was beating me regularly.

"Put these on! Now!" My father shoved me a baseball hat and some sunglasses. He said I was ugly and needed to hide my face. I believed him, of course.

I put the items on quickly and turned to him for a question. "Where do I go?" I spoke quietly, knowing speaking too loudly would result in pain.

"Are you stupid!? You go in the classroom!"

"But…" My eyes filled with tears. Fear. Confusion. Fear. Relief when he didn't hit me immediately, "Which one?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know!? Now get your ass in there before I smack you!"

I heeded his warning.

The hat was too large for me and it slipped down in front of my eyes. That coupled with my sunglasses that were entirely too big for my face made seeing virtually impossible.

Eventually, I did find the correct classroom; though I was late.

I limped into the classroom, trying to avoid putting any pressure on my left leg.

There, I was met with an agitated sigh and a few quite whispers. Even though I could make out none of them, I knew they were about me.

"What's your name?" I looked up and met the cold, hard eyes of my new teacher. She was elderly looking, with thick eye glasses and a puff of awful gray hair that was tied back into a frizzy bun.

I swallowed loudly. My mouth had gone dry. Ever since my dad started hitting me, grown-ups just didn't feel safe anymore. "Edward Masen." I choked out.

She scribbled something on a notebook before turning back to me. "_You _are late. When you're late you need a tardy pass. Don't you ever come in late without a tardy pass again. Understood?"

I nodded vigorously.

"_And_," Her eyes flashed, "Don't ever, _ever_ wear sunglasses and a hat to my classroom again. Am I clear?"

I nodded again.

"I asked you a question and therefore I want an answer."

"Yes ma'am." I whispered. Snickers came from my left and my face turned pink under the black and blue discoloration.

"Remove them at once." She pointed at my face. After a split second of hesitation, I pulled both the glasses and cap away from my face and placed them into her waiting hands, ashamed.

"Goodness, gracious, boy! What on earth happened to your face? Were you out fighting?"

My mom told me it was bad to lie, but my dad said I couldn't tell anyone what happened. Ever. Because I couldn't stand the idea of facing my father's wrath and consequently pain, I nodded once again.

"There shall be none of that in my classroom, either. Sit." I followed her finger to a seat in the very back, nestled in between two walls. Placing my bottom on the seat carefully, I winced as I swung my legs around. The seat pressed on my bruises.

Mrs. McKay, I learned her name was, then started the class. Unfortunately, I knew everything she was teaching and now had nothing to distract myself with.

At the end of the day, she gave us something called homework for the first time ever. Mrs. McKay so eloquently worded the definition as "_work_ that you take _home_."

All the other children's parents were waiting for them when school dismissed at three o'clock. Not my father. The busses didn't run to my house because I lived outside of town and too far away, and the teacher said I was too young to walk. I had to wait.

At five in the evening my father still hadn't shown up and I began to worry, as did the poor teacher waiting with me.

"Mr. Masen, sir, Edward is still at school." I looked up at the teacher through the sunglasses Mrs. MacKay so kindly gave back to me. "Well, sir he can't just stay here all night….Sir, I'm sorry, but he is much too young to be walking home. Yes, I realize that, but - hello? Sir? Mr. Masen! Hello!?" She sighed clicking her cell phone off.

Ten minutes later my father's car pulled into the parking lot. A large wave of relief spread through me at the sight of it, but it faded very quickly, turning into a drowning fear.

He stormed over to where the blonde teacher and I were standing. Grabbing and yanking my wrist firmly, he turned to her in a rage.

"Don't you _dare_ tell me how to raise my son!"

"Sir, I wasn't trying -" Her eyes were wide.

Dad cut her off. "I _know_ what you were trying to do! Come on, Edward." He snarled dragging me and my throbbing ankle to his car. Once we were in, my father revved the engine and peeled out of the parking lot abruptly making the tires squeals. I wanted to scream right along with them….

He turned to me once we were speeding away. "Don't ever make me look like a fool ever again!"

I nodded hysterically, tears welling up in my eyes.

We were home shortly and his fist connected with my face as soon as we were safely inside. Over and over he pummeled me on the kitchen floor. I couldn't move when he was finished. My body felt like a 300 ton weight had been dropped on it.

"Get up." He commanded. I tried but all I accomplished was arching my back, twitching my fingers and toes, and whimpering. My eyes were hooded in exhaustion as tears ran from them soundlessly. I breathed through my parted and bloody lips. And I _was_ bloody. Very much so. It seemed like my very soul was bleeding out on the kitchen floor, killing me internally, if not physically….

When I was ten, my father began whipping me with a belt.

When I was eleven, my father hit me in the face with a metal baseball bat. It split my lip open and I had seven stitches along my bottom lip. No one asked me what happened…no one cared.

At 12, my hair was almost touching my top lip. I let it hang in my hang face. The strands provided welcomed coverage, but it was too long, and my father started calling me a girl. Before this age, he had cut it with scissors - never higher than my cheekbones but this year, my father declared that he was sick of always having to take care of me of me. If I want it cut, I had to do it myself. And I did.

In September of my fourteenth year, I met Jasper. He and his sister had just moved here from Texas. They were twins, he and Rosalie. The girl hated me like everyone else on this God-forsaken planet. But Jasper…he actually became my first and only friend. However, Jasper was a bit of a punk, so to speak, and a large influence on me.

He and I became fast friends, and eventually, I began to trust him….

"Edward!" Jasper ran up to me, smiling widely. I glanced up at him from the book I was reading as he sat down in front of me. His forehead creased as he took in the empty table in front of me. "You aren't eating today?"

I shook my head, not responding verbally. I felt beyond sick today.

He sighed. "Okay." He paused for a minute before deciding to change the subject. "So I met a girl…"

At this my head lifted to meet his eyes. He was smiling widely and looked sincerely happy.

"What's her name?" I was barely interested, only playing along for his benefit.

"Alice Brandon."

"Doesn't sound familiar." I muttered, still reading my very boring book.

"She's new here. She's really nice, Edward. Really pretty…I think even you would like her."

Even me….nice, Jasper. It sounds like he was making me out to be some sort of complete socially impaired idiot. My eyes narrowed as I read on, "That's great."

He sighed loudly. "Can you at least _pretend_ to be interested?"

I shut my book. "I feel like I'm going to puke all over the freaking table and you want me to _pretend_ to be interested in some girl you just met? Jesus, Jasper. I don't feel well. Please, just leave me alone."

"Fine." He stood up dramatically, like a girl, and stormed off. I sighed, instantly feeling guilty. He always took all of my shit. Why couldn't I just be nice back?

I took a deep breath staring at the faded black door. My hand shook as I reached out to open it. _Just do it! He's not even home! _I told myself. Finally, I managed to push it open and step inside quietly. The house was silent. I breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the kitchen. I sat down at the kitchen table and attempted to do my homework over the horrible pain in my stomach. I looked down, lifting my shirt up to my chest and peering down at the large black and purple bruise that was the perfect shape of a boot. I touched it delicately and it throbbed under the slightest pressure. I breathed out a shaking breath before dropping my shirt and continued my homework.

The front door banged open about three hours later. My father stormed over to me, standing in front of the table, fuming. I looked up at him, flinching softly.

"We're going to dinner."

My forehead creased in confusion, though I didn't dare ask… "Okay." I waited for further instruction.

"Go get changed, and try to cover your face with something. You have bruises all over it."

_I wonder whose fault that is…_I thought grimly. I trudged up the steps to my bedroom and stripped as quickly as I was able. My father didn't like to be kept waiting.

I dressed in a black button down shirt and loose dark jeans and quickly tried to cover the bruises with my hair. _Good enough._

I trotted down the steps, and found my father waiting impatiently for me.

"What took you so long?" He smacked the back of my head as I exited the house and I flinched, quickening my pace to the car.

The ride to where ever it was we were going was a long one. It was closer into town than our house and also in the richer section of Forks. When we pulled up into the drive way of a large white, Victorian house, I sunk further into my seat.

"Come on!" My father grumbled, moving to get out of the car. I did the same.

"Whose house is this?" I whispered quietly to my father, hoping my question wouldn't cause him to lash out at me.

"Doctor Carlisle and Esme Cullen's."

I nodded, not knowing who on earth they were.

My father turned to look at me, stopping his stride to the door. "I swear to God, Edward, don't you dare do anything to embarrass me."

Once again, I nodded, this time with more fervor. My father turned and walked up the freshly painted steps and to the door, knocking three times. A few moments later the door opened and a kind woman in her mid thirties opened the door. Her face held a warm, smile free of wrinkles. Her hair was shoulder length and caramel colored, her eyes matching her hair. When she spoke her voice was soft and kind and all around warm. "Hello, Mr. Masen, it's so nice to finally meet you. My husband has told me a lot about you." The woman, who I assumed to be Esme Cullen, held out her hand.

I watched as my father transformed into something alien. He smiled warmly at the kind stranger, taking her hand…_gently_, and responded with a soft, genteel voice, "All good things I hope."

The woman laughed heartily, "Of course." With this she turned to look at me, "And you must be the second Edward Masen. What a pleasure to meet you. I'm Esme Cullen."

I shook her hand, feeling uncomfortable with the attention. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Cullen," I muttered, shyly, blushing and looking at her from under my hair that covered the majority of my face.

"Oh, please, dear, call me Esme." Esme's face lit up in a sweet smile. I hesitated at this, looking to my father for an answer. He gave a tight nod.

"Esme." My responding smile was tight and forced. She didn't seem to notice.

"Please come in, the both of you, and make yourselves at home. Dinner will be ready at any moment."

My father and I followed her into the living room quietly. She told us that we should sit and be comfortable and that her husband would be downstairs momentarily. My father nodded and smiled at her. He then proceeded to sit on the white sofa looking actually happy for the first time in years.

I sat down as well as far away from him as possible. The silence was uncomfortable and full of tension so I looked around the room, taking it in. It was large and roomy. The walls were white and the crown molding on the walls was white as well. The windows were stained in a dark wood giving a nice contrast to the rest of the room. In front of the couch my father and I were seated at, was a grand fire place and above that was a large plasma screen television. Next to the sofa was a loveseat in the same style and material and on the other side of the sofa was an arm chair that also matched with the others. The floor was a pristine white carpet that morphed into a grayish colored tile surrounding the fire place. The ceiling was high and white as well, and the rest of the room was covered in various different pieces of art and vases that added color and brightness into the room. Regardless of the beauty and magnificence of the space, the one thing that held my attention most was the baby grand piano sitting on a raised platform facing the large picture windows. It was beautiful and just begging to be played. The wood surrounding the instrument was black and shiny. It looked brand-new; as if it had never been used before. Secretly, I had learned to play the piano at school. I taught myself and would play every chance I could get to sneak off to the band room and further refine my skill at the instrument. My father couldn't ever know about my passion for it, or I feared that he would break my fingers to torture me and hinder me from playing.

"Do you play?"

I jumped slightly at the startling voice and looked to see a blonde man who appeared to be around thirty five descending the stair case. His large blue eyes and wide smile was warm and inviting.

I ducked my head realizing he was talking to me, "No. I always wanted to learn but never did." I lied.

"Ah. Same here, actually. My father left it to me after he died. I never did get a chance to play it."

I nodded, forcing myself to smile at the man. He walked over to the love seat and sat down. "It's nice to see you again, Edward."

I looked up confused, but then realized that this time he was talking to my father.

"The same to you, Carlisle. How's the hospital staff treating you so far?"

"Very well, thank you. The people here are very kind. I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of animosity towards me. It must be a small town perk." Dr. Cullen ran his fingers through his hair, smiling once again at my father.

"Yes, the people here are very caring. I'm assuming you've met Charlie Swan, considering you've invited him to dinner as well."

"Yes, he's kind as well."

I grimaced at this, not agreeing. Chief Swan always hated me for some reason. Maybe it was because he was my father's best friend and therefore my father's despise for me rubbed off on him. Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that whenever I got in trouble, it was always Chief Swan that busted me.

"His daughter has just moved to town as well. Isabella, I think her name was. He can't seem to stop talking about her. Apparently, she doesn't like her new step father and decided to come live with her dad up here." My father commented.

"Yes, he mentioned that. I told him to bring her if she arrives in time for the dinner."

"Didn't you say that Thomas Hale and his family were coming as well?"

"Oh, yes, actually. Rebecca Hale is a nurse at the hospital."

I tuned out at this point, glad that Jasper would be there.

It wasn't long before the door bell rang, signaling the arrival of the other guests. Dr. Cullen jumped from his seat and quickly opened the front door. Laughter rang from behind my father and I as the new visitors and Carlisle entered into the living room. I quickly recognized Mr. and Mrs. Hale and then Jasper as they walked towards us. Jasper had his arm wrapped around a small girl with dark hair. Her wide blue eyes looked up at the doctor in earnest attention. Carlisle smiled down at her, asking her name.

"Alice Brandon, sir. It's nice to meet you." Her voice was high, almost like bells. Jasper dragged her over to me before Dr. Cullen could ask her anything else.

"Edward," Jasper smiled at me proudly, "This is Alice."

I smirked, "So I heard." I stood quickly offering my hand to her. "Jasper hasn't stopped talking about you since you arrived. It's nice to finally meet you."

Jasper kicked me in the leg discreetly. I glared at him, subconsciously rubbing it with my foot.

"So I see you've already met Jasper Hale, Edward. Why didn't you ever tell me that?"

I looked down, swallowing loudly at the sound of my father's voice. I was quickly sucked from the calm my friend gave and turned to face him stoically. "My friends at school never came up in conversation before, sir. I didn't think to mention it."

His eyes tightened slightly, informing me that this would be a conversation we would have later. He nodded, looking towards Mrs. Hale and asking her a question.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Dr. Cullen was staring at me with a confused expression. I looked at him for a moment before looking away, uncomfortable. Had he noticed something? I hoped fervently that he hadn't.

The door rang once again, making him break his stare away from me, to answer it.

When I turned back to look at my friends, Jasper was glaring at my father and Alice was staring at the both of us with an alarmed expression. She opened her mouth to speak, but Jasper nudged her and whispered in her ear, "Not here."

I blushed and looked down, "Not ever, please?"

Jasper sighed quietly, "You can trust, Alice."

My eyes narrowed at him. "I don't know Alice." My gaze flickered to her looking her up and down as if she were a threat. She flinched back under my gaze and Jasper, grabbed my shoulder.

"But I do. And you need help." He whispered this under his breath.

I squeezed my eyes shut, shaking my head fiercely. "Leave it, Jaz."

"Edward -"

"Dinner is served." Esme Cullen stood shyly in the doorway to what I presumed to be the dining room. Everyone smiled brightly and headed off to eat with the exception of Jasper, Alice, and myself.

"We'll talk about this later." Jasper's face was set in determination.

I looked away and followed the others.

"The children can sit together," Esme said, pointing to a few seats around the huge table. I took a seat as far away from where my father was standing as possible. Jasper sat next to my right, with Alice on his left, and a girl with brown hair and big brown eyes blushed and moved to sit next to me. I looked at her, transfixed with her momentarily, struck with an odd and very sudden case of attraction. She was very pretty, and small. She seemed clumsy in the way she walked towards her seat. Her long hair wrapped around her face like a dark veil as she sat silently, staring at her empty plate. Sensing my gaze, she looked up at me, blushing when she caught me staring.

"Hi." I said, smiling slightly at her. She seemed almost as shy as me.

A wide smiled broke across her face, "Hi."

"I'm Edward Masen, you must be Isabella Swan, the chief's daughter, right?"

She blushed again, "It's Bella. And yes."

"Nice to meet you. What grade are in?"

"8th," She blushed.

"Me too," I said, smiling happily.

Jasper nudged me in the arm. I turned to look at him. "Stop flirting with the new girl."

I glared at him, "I'm not flirting."

"Sure you aren't. But the chief seems to think otherwise." His gaze flickered to Charlie.

I turned to look at Chief Swan, flinching softly as I met his glare. Turning back to Jasper, I shrugged, "He already hates me. It can't get much worse."

Jasper chuckled before turning away to face Alice. Dinner was served a few minutes later.

Esme Cullen had made an enormous dinner. My mouth watered just looking at all the food. I dug in quickly, not even caring enough to look at what I was eating. Leaning over my plate, I stuffed my mouth full of food, my eyes practically rolling into the back of my skull as the different flavors flooded my tongue. Abruptly, a hard kick to my shin broke me from my trance. I looked up, taking in everyone talking happily…everyone except my father.

My eyes widened as I noticed him glaring furiously. "Stop stuffing your face like a pig."

I looked down, pushing my plate forward slightly. Sensing eyes on myself, I turned to find Bella looking confusedly at me. I shrugged and smiled tightly. Her returned smile was forced like mine. She knew something was wrong.

Dinner ended a few hours later. Bella, Jasper, Alice, and I became fast friends. We talked aimlessly as the night progressed, laughing and chatting about random nothings. I found Alice to be a sweet girl, full of energy. She practically bounced with excitement whenever she found something interesting to talk about. Alice began talking of Rosalie, Jasper's sister and how nice she was. At this, I smiled and pretended to agree. Jasper just glared at the table.

"Where is she tonight, Jaz?" I asked suddenly, realizing that she probably should have come.

He shrugged, "I don't know. She said something about hanging out with her boyfriend, that Royce kid that lives down the street from us. I don't like him much. Anyway, if Rosalie came, I couldn't have brought Alice so it worked out pretty nice in my opinion."

I rolled my eyes, smiling at Alice genuinely. Bella blushed lightly beside me asking quietly who Rosalie and Royce were.

Jasper jumped into action, filling Bella in on all the terrible things she did to Jasper when they were children. Bella laughed and giggled through the whole thing and I found myself to be oddly jealous of the attention Jasper was getting from her. That was one of the few things that bothered me about my best friend. Everyone liked him. Everyone hated me.

"And…who's Royce?" Bella asked quietly. I gathered that she was extremely shy but had a great sense of humor once cracked through her shell. She was so sweet and caring, always concerned whenever a story of an injury or an illness came up in conversation.

Jasper sighed, breaking me from my muses. "Royce King is eighteen and going off to college next year to study law. I guess he wants to be a lawyer or something."

"I hate lawyers." I muttered quietly. Jasper smiled regretfully, and patted my shoulder before continuing.

"Anyway, Royce lives down the street from us and found my sister attractive or something. Now they're dating."

"Wait. How old is Rosalie?"

Jasper chuckled, "She's my age. So, fourteen."

"That's illegal." Bella looked horrified. "What did your parents say?"

"They don't know." Jasper shrugged, "There's nothing that I can do when it comes to Rosalie. She does whatever she wants."

It was silent for a moment, the tension of the previous conversation still lingering. Bella broke it, but only to make it worse, unknowingly.

"So what made you want to pierce your lip?"

My eyes widened and I looked down at my still full dinner plate. Touching my lip quietly, I was sucked back into the time it happened. My memory surrounded me as if it were really happening all over again.

_"Edward!" My father screamed. He sounded furious and I curled into a ball tighter, trying to force myself deeper into the corner of my room._

_ My door banged open and in walked my highly intoxicated father. His eyes were wide with fury and his lips curled with hate. My finger nails dug into the flesh of my knees, breaking the skin through the jeans and oozing blood. I gasped quietly, releasing my grip._

_ Footsteps stalked toward me and I cringed, curling tighter into the small space where the walls met. Tears built up in the ducts of my eyes in fear and in anticipation of the pain I was sure to be in._

_ Metal slammed against the floor. My eyes, unconsciously snapped down to the bat my father was holding, unbeknownst to me before that instant. Shock crossed me and fear coursed through my veins. I shook violently; unsure of whether or not this would be my last breath. My dad had never used weapons on me, aside from the belt, but none that would inflict fatal damage. I sobbed quietly, praying to see my mother when I died tonight._

_ "Shut up!" He roared, grabbing a fist full of my chin-length hair. Throwing me to the floor face first, he swung the bat into my lower back. I dropped back to floor - my efforts of getting to my knees wasted. "Get up!" His voice was a command and I had no choice but to follow his instruction. I stood, half bent over, the pain in my back flaring as I moved._

_ "I hate you, Edward. I hope you know that. I hope you know it was your fault she's dead. I'll make you pay for the rest of your worthless life and it _still_ will never be enough!" Without giving me a chance to react, he swung the bat, just as I turned my face and it hit me square in the mouth. I tumbled back, my head crashing to the floor as pools and pools of blood poured into my mouth like a faucet, I coughed and sputtered, spitting it onto the floor, trying to breathe. He kicked me in the stomach. "Clean that up!"_

_ I watched as he walked from the room, the bat clicking across the ground as he used it as a walking stick and disappeared from sight._

_ I clutched at my lip, checking for the damage. At first I thought I had lost a tooth, but upon further inspection I realized that my teeth were still in order, none missing. The blood was coming from my lip. My stomach churned as endless amounts of my life's liquid poured onto the floor of my bedroom. My hands shook as I pushed myself to stand and wobbled into the bathroom. What I saw in the mirror made me gasp. Blood streamed down my face, down my chest, dripping to the floor. My eyes filled with tears as I grabbed tissues and tried to stop the bleeding, to no avail. I realized that I would need stitches - the cut was nearly down to my teeth - and I had no way of getting them except…by asking my father. I shuddered._

_ Creeping down the hall, I stared at my father's bedroom door. The slight crack in the door let light peer onto the space in front of me. Clutching my lips silently, I knocked on the door, my eyes filling with tears._

_ The door whooshed open and my father stood in the doorway…._

"Edward?"

My eyes snapped to my left and I was met with a pair of large brown ones. My face felt oddly cold and it took me a second to realize the blood had drained from my head.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, quietly. It was then that I began to feel the chilling prickle of numerous eyes on me. Glancing about myself, I saw everyone around the table staring at me with various different expressions. Bella and Alice stared at me with contemplation and confusion, Dr. Cullen with horrified concern, Chief Swan and Mr. and Mrs. Hale with plain annoyance, Mrs. Cullen with kind interest, Jasper with pity, and my father with warning.

I flushed under the shade of my hair, looking down at my full plate, and muttered, "I, uh…I got hit in the face with a baseball bat." I saw my father's hands clench. Dr. Cullen's eyes flickered downwards at my father, noticing the movement as well and his eyes tightened noticeably.

"How did that happen?" Dr. Cullen's voice was tight.

"In baseball," I whispered. "I never played after that." Esme smiled warmly at me at that comment. "So…I had to get seven stitches across my lip. After that, I just got sick of seeing it. So, I pierced it."

Carlisle's eyes narrowed further, "How did your father feel about that?"

"He…he was mad, but he got over it I guess." I looked down, feeling the blood leave my face again.

_I was 14. My eyes stared back at me angrily as I stared into the bathroom mirror holding a needle to my lower lip. In my hand was a tiny silver lip ring that Jasper had given me the night before. In front of me on the counter was a bottle of disinfectant and rubbing alcohol; Jasper had told me to pour it on the wound at least twice a day to make sure it didn't get infected. He wished me the best of luck._

_ But I was angry. I couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to shove the needle through my own skin. "Just do it!" I yelled at myself. Closing my eyes, I yanked my lip downward and jammed the little piece of metal through my flesh. I clenched my teeth waiting for the pain to subside. Eventually, I looked at the needle, sticking through my lip and I smiled victoriously, quickly slipping the ring through the newly made hole._

_ What I hadn't considered was my father's reaction. He arrived home an hour or so later. I was sitting quietly at the kitchen table doing my homework. My father slammed his hands down roughly on the table making my pen slip across the page._

_ "What the hell is that!?" My father demanded, gripping my hair and yanking my face back._

_ "What?" I whispered, forgetting about my freshly pierced lip._

_ "Don't act dumb with me, Edward!" He yelled, grabbing the metal and pulling on it roughly, "This!"_

_ I flinched; afraid he was going to rip it out. "I'm sorry! I didn't think you'd care!"_

_ His eyes narrowed, "I don't want you walking around looking like a fucking punk and tainting my name!"_

_ I stared up at him, waiting for him to just hit me and get it over with._

_ He grabbed my hair, flinging me to the ground before stomping hard on my stomach._

_ I grunted, gasping in the air that had been knocked out of me._

_ "Whatever," he muttered, walking away, "It's not like everyone in this fucking town doesn't know how much of a prick you really are."_

We left not too long after. Bella and I exchanged phone numbers - which I was more than happy about - and Jasper promised to call me in the morning being that it was a Saturday.

My father was silent the entire way home and it was making me uneasy. When we pulled into the parking lot, my father turned to me with unreadable expression, "So it seems we have much to talk about."

I felt my eyes widen on their own accord before I exited the car and made my way to the door. We made our way inside and I stood in the middle of the kitchen staring nervously at him, waiting for what was to come.

"That was close tonight. Too close. In fact I'm pretty sure that Carlisle figured something out in his head." My dad's voice was eerily calm as he spoke and I shuddered. "Do you have any idea of what I would do to you if any one were to ever find out?"

I didn't respond, only stared at him in horror.

"I would rip you limb from fucking limb, and I'd do it while you're still alive so you could watch as you became dismembered."

I swallowed, my eyes squeezing shut as I tried not to imagine what he was telling me. Abruptly, a stinging sensation met my cheek and I fell to the ground. It took me a second to realize he had hit me.

"Don't you dare ever cross me, Edward. I don't think you would enjoy the consequences."


	2. Edward Masen

A/N: Hello! I wanna say thanks to everyone who reviewed and favorited and followed this story. I'm surprised by how many people seem to like it, so I figured I'd give you all an update, yay! I hope you like the chapter. Any questions regarding *why* no one knows/cares that Edward is being hurt will be answered in time. Okay, so onto the story!

**Chapter 2: Edward Masen**

"I remember meeting him, the boy with no face. He was so broken, so worn down, that even then, even before I knew him, I felt for him. I knew I needed to help him. I tried, and in return I gained his friendship, his trust, and most importantly, his love."

~Bella Swan.

…

I woke up early the next morning with dried tears still on my face. It was my second day here in Forks and already I couldn't get my mind off of a boy. Edward Masen. There was something…wrong with him, and I didn't know what. Last night I had met him at a dinner that a man named Dr. Carlisle Cullen hosted. The boy seemed very nice and polite, shy even, but under that, I sensed that something was…wrong. His long bronze colored hair covered most of his face, but I had seen dark bruises scattered across his skin beneath it. At first I had mistaken them for shadows, but as I looked - and I did a lot of looking - I realized that they certainly were _not_ shadows. His stories of injuries made me uneasy and his silent, easily frightened manor shook me. I knew there was something wrong with him, but I didn't know _what_. I considered asking my father about it, but I had seen the way he was eyeing Edward the night before and decided against it. In any case, I knew I would see the boy at school today. We were, fortunately, in the same grade and I now knew three people when I had originally thought I would know no one. Alice and Jasper were Edward's two friends. Apparently, the two of them were relatively new like me. I found that relieving to know that I wouldn't stand out like a sore thumb…or at least as much as I would have.

The slow ride to school was nerve racking. My heart was beating erratically, and I couldn't help but fidget. I could tell my dad found it amusing, though he tried not to smile.

"You'll be fine, Bells. Just take a deep breath. I'm sure you're going to make tons of friends," He said, smiling happily.

I sighed, "I didn't have any friends in Phoenix, why would I have friends here?"

"You're a good kid, Bella. And the people here are really nice. Plus, you remember Jacob don't you? Down from the reservation?"

Jacob? Who was Jacob? I nodded my head anyway, pretending to know who he was talking about.

"Well, anyway. After about two years of convincing, Billy finally let Jake go to school in Forks instead of on the rez. Billy's pretty weird about that kind of stuff."

A sudden flash of insight swept through me. Billy Black was my dad's fishing friend that lived down at the Quileute reservation. Images of a tanned boy with silky black hair and bright brown eyes flashed through my mind. I added one more person to the "People I will Know List." That is, if he remembers me.

We pulled into the parking lot of the big, brick building. Children ranging from eleven year olds to fourteen year olds were filtering into the school. My eyes flickered to the right and there leaning against the side of the building was Edward Masen. Jasper and Alice were standing next to him talking with dull expressions. Edward's face was hidden like last night but the way his shoulders were hunched made me think something was upsetting him.

"Did you hear me, Bella?" My eyes snapped back to Charlie. We had already pulled into a parking spot and kids my age were eyeing the cruiser with obvious curiosity. I sunk a little further into my seat.

"Uh…no…sorry." I blushed, looking away.

"I said to stay from the Masen kid. He's trouble, you hear me? He gets himself into a lot of trouble. It's a shame. His father's such good man. Did you know he's a lawyer?"

I shook my head, barely listening. My eyes kept flickering from my father to Edward whose head was now turned in my direction.

"Well, he is. A good one, too. Anyway, run along now. Don't want you to be late on your first day." He smiled happily at me. I smiled back, and gave him a tight one armed hug, to which he grunted with embarrassment. My dad had never been good with expressing emotions.

I hopped out of the car quickly, and watched him as he pulled out of the parking lot. I was getting quite a few stares, but I ignored them; I had something else on my mind.

Walking over to the side of the building, I caught Edward's eyes and smiled shyly. His mouth lifted slightly at the corners. "Hi, Bella. It's nice to see you again." His voice was slightly strained, but it was still as smooth as I remembered it.

I blushed, looking down. "You too." It was awkward for a moment, until Alice jumped in and broke the silence.

"Do you have your schedule yet, Bella?" Her voice was high and bubbly.

I shook my head. "No, I have to go get it at the –" Before I could even finish speaking she was dragging me away and to the school. Edward's veiled eyes followed me as I left.

"So are you nervous for your first day?" Alice asked.

"A little. I don't know really anyone."

"Nor do you need to. Everyone in this school sucks. Stick with us and we'll get you through." She smiled hugely, flashing her pink and black braces at me.

I couldn't help but smile back. We reached the office in no time and she shoved me through the door with a force that surprised me coming from her tiny form.

"Don't be shy, Bella," her blue eyes glittered as she smiled, "Mrs. Garner is really nice. She's the school's secretary." We walked towards the large desk that took up most of the room while she spoke. When we reached the desk, an old woman with white hair and bright red lipstick looked down at us.

"Well, hello, dear," her voice was old and she spoke slowly. I felt uncomfortable. "You must be Isabella Swan."

I nodded.

"Well, let me see then. Here is your schedule and a map of the school. I'm sure Alice here can explain the rest."

Alice's face lit up and she smiled happily, "Of course, Mrs. Garner!" She grabbed the papers for me and then took my hand before practically skipping out of the office. "Bye!" She sang. I tried to hold in my giggle. "See, isn't she nice!?"

I shrugged, "She's…okay."

Her face fell a little. "Oh…I think she's the sweetest." It fell silent for a minute, "Well, anyway, let's get you to your first class. You have History first with Mr. Clark." She puffed out a breath, before whispering, "Good luck, he's really boring."

Smiling, I muttered, "Thanks."

Her tinkling laugh filled my ears, "Anytime, Bella, you're a sweet girl. You and Edward are perfect together."

Freezing in the middle of the hallway, I nearly choked on my own saliva. "Alice! We just met yesterday! Besides, what makes you think I like him like…that?"

She winked at me, "I _know_ these things, Bella. Besides -"

"Bella!" A deep booming voice interrupted the end of Alice's statement. My eyes automatically flickered to the direction the sound came from and I met a big pair of brown eyes and a wide smile. Jacob Black was walking happily towards me. I felt my own face lift into a happy smile. He'd remembered!

"Ugh!" Alice grunted under her breath and rolled her eyes. "I'll, uh….catch you later, Bella." Her eyes occasionally flickered to Jacob with obvious annoyance. I watched confusedly as she hurried away just as the first warning bell went off, alerting the start of school. My stomach made little flips inside of me and I gulped. Jacob made his way over to me then, his grin seeming even bigger up close.

"Wow, Bella, it's been so long since I've seen you!" He gushed, the husky tone of his voice sounded like it should have belonged to someone much older than him.

"I know! I can't believe you remember me." My own voice expressed my delight at this.

"Of course. I could never forget a face as pretty as yours."

I blushed and it was awkwardly silent for a moment.

He coughed, before continuing, "So, anyway, I heard from the chief that you just moved back here for good, huh?"

"Yep. My mom got remarried and stuff…." I trailed off with a sigh. Phil was such a…bad word. I could feel my face scrunching up into a scowl.

"Oh…not liking the new step-father, I see." Jacob chuckled, "Yeah, Charlie told me about that. Hey, how is that guy, by the way, haven't seen in a few weeks. Usually, he goes fishing with my dad on Sundays."

"He was probably getting my room ready for me or something. He seems like he's been pretty busy. But I've only been here for, like, two days." I said.

"Oh, well…welcome to Forks then. Here let me walk you to your first class. You wouldn't want to be late on your first day."

…

All day I would walk past Edward in the hallway. He would catch my eyes and grimace at me before dropping his head. The mystery about him had burrowed itself into my mind like a contagious infection and it spread until all I could think about was him. Did he hate me now? Did I say something wrong? And, what on _earth_ was wrong with him!? Finally, by lunch I could take no more of these questions floating about my head. I needed answers.

"What's up with your friend?" I demanded, storming over to Jasper Hale, who was sitting alone, no doubt waiting for his friends to join him. I was so worked up over this situation that I didn't care that I was probably being rude.

"Which friend?" He asked, sounding bored as he stared down at the book he was reading.

"Edward."

At this, he shut his book and stared up at me with narrowed eyes. "What _about_ him?"

"What's up with him? Why doesn't he like me?" The glares Edward had given me today had made my stomach twist. I needed to know if I did something.

Jasper rolled his eyes dramatically before responding, "He _does_ like you." I didn't miss his over-exasperated tone.

"Well, what's going on with…his…bruises?" I whispered.

The conversation changed abruptly. Jasper's back straightened and his entire face scrunched up in suspicion. "You _really_ don't need to worry about that, Bella."

"Yes, I do! Why can't you tell me?" I was getting upset now.

"Because it's not my story to tell. It's Edward's."

"Well, Edward can trust me."

He barked out a bitter laugh. "Bella. Have a seat. There is much in this world that you don't understand."

I followed his order before narrowing my eyes at him. "Enlighten me, then."

"Again, Bella, that's not my place. Besides, I don't think you're prepared to hear of the horrors of this world."

"What are you guys talking about?" A quiet, velvety and somewhat suspicious voice broke our intense conversation. Edward and Alice stood by the table, both looking unsure of what to do or say. I looked at Edward intensely, drinking in his skinny, bruised body and wondering once again what was happening to him. His bronze hair hung in front of his face brushing against his nose as he spoke. I became more irritated as I realized I still didn't know what color his eyes were.

Jasper's voice broke me from my thoughts. "Oh, Bella here was just asking about you."

My head whipped in Jasper's direction, looking at him incredulously. Way to throw me under the bus! I could faintly see under the shade of his reddish hair that his eyes narrowed at me. Without another word, he set his plate down on the table next to Jasper before taking a seat. Alice cleared her throat and sat down silently. Edward abruptly looked up at me, his jaw tight as he did so. "What about me, Bella?"

Jasper stared at me as I stuttered to find an answer. When I said nothing, Jasper prompted me. "Well?"

"It…was…nothing. It's not important." My face flamed red with embarrassment. I looked down at the table.

I saw Jasper shaking his head in his peripheral vision. "You can ask me and not him?"

"Ask you what?" Edward demanded, his usually hushed voice rising with anger.

"Bella wants to know what's wrong with you." Jasper said, mockingly.

Edward's shoulders slumped and he turned his head away. "Oh. I figured it was something like that." His voice was laced with bitterness. I watched him rise up with his untouched tray of food and glide over to a nearby trashcan. He returned silent only to retrieve his backpack. Jasper sighed, watching him walk from the cafeteria.

"Are you going to go get him, then? Or should I?" Jasper asked, getting ready to stand up.

"He's mad at me!" I said with wide eyes. Edward's hurt expression had implanted itself into my mind.

"I wouldn't say mad. He's just…" he sighed again, "Just go talk to him."

"What do I say?"

Jasper shrugged, before chuckling, "Listen to your heart."

My shoulders dropped out of exasperation. With a roll of my eyes, I stood and marched from the lunch room. I wandered around the hallway for a few minutes before finally seeing him sitting in front of his locker. He stared straight ahead of himself. I approached him carefully, fearing him lashing out at me. Before I could say anything, he spoke.

"What do you want, Bella? Do you still want to know what's _wrong_ with me?" he muttered.

For the second time that day, I had no idea of how to respond.

He shook his head. "Please go away."

I started to back up, before I closed my eyes, stopping mid-step. I _needed_ to get to the bottom of what was going on with him. I walked over to him and sat down next to him. His body went rigid and he slid slightly away from me, putting a few inches of space between us, before shuddering.

I was mildly offended, but I ignored it, figuring it was more important to solve this mystery.

"Edward." I started, my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. I tried to collect my thoughts before I explained myself. "Look, what I said about there something being wrong with you. That's not what I meant. I mean…" I sighed, the words not coming out right. "I can see the bruises; I know someone is hurting you. Please tell me what's happening. You can trust me."

Suddenly, he turned to me with a fierce glare. "You want to know so you can what? Satisfy your curiosity? You know what? _Fuck_ you!" He stood up and stalked off. Through hurt eyes, I noticed that he walked with a limp.

The bell rang, interrupting my wounded silence and I got to my feet slowly.

"How did it go?"

I jumped and yelped a little, turning to look over my shoulder. Jasper was staring at me angrily and Alice was standing behind him. Her eyes were flickering back and forth between the two of us.

"Not well," I muttered.

"Let it be a sign to you that you should mind your own goddamn business." His voice was the closest I ever heard to a growl and like his best friend, he stormed down the hallway to find his next class.

Alice stayed tersely by my side. She looked at me with pity.

"Well, there goes a good first day, I guess," I sighed.

She chuckled a little and grabbed my arm, "Come on, I'll walk you to your next class."

"Kay…Do _you_ know what's wrong?"

"If you know what's good for you, Bella. You'll stop asking." Her eyes were sharp.

My lips tightened, but I didn't say anything. I just wanted to help….

…

The rest of the day was agonizingly slow. At least Alice was in my gym class and art class. Normally, I would have been happy to have two easy electives at the end of the day. But, today was an exception. It was my first day of school and I had already made two enemies and only one friend. I thought of Jacob, and wondered to myself idly if I considered him a friend yet. For some reason, being friends with Alice was so natural, I almost felt like I knew her for years.

"You know, you're really clumsy, Bella." Alice was doodling on a large piece of scrap paper as she talked. We were practicing contouring our hands. I looked down at mine and grimaced. It was terrible. It looked like five grapes all connected to a larger grape.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." I sighed. Gym had been a disaster. Not that I was surprised, it was just frustrating that I couldn't do anything athletic without harming someone or something. I snuck a glance at her drawing. It was amazing. "Wow. You're really good at this, huh?"

"Hm?" She looked down at her paper. "Oh, I dunno. Not really." Her face turned a little red at my praise.

I laughed. "Don't be modest."

She shrugged, "I've always loved to draw and make things. I make a lot of outfits and stuff."

"Cool! Could I see sometime?" I was genuinely interested. People who were good at art always baffled me.

"Really?" Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Sure, you can come over after school sometime."

I smiled, excited. "Sounds great."

The bell rang and the teacher told us to put our drawings on her desk so she could grade them and write down constructive criticism. I grimaced, already knowing mine was going to be covered in red marks.

Alice and I walked to our lockers together talking about various interests and found that we had a lot in common.

"So, if you don't like sports or art, what do you do with your time?" Alice asked.

"Well, I like to write and I'm okay at cooking," I admitted.

"What sort of things do you like to write?"

"Poems mostly. I write stories sometimes."

"I'd love to read some sometime if you don't mind. Like, if they're not too personal," she said, quickly.

"Sure. I mean, I'm not very good, but you can definitely read some."

"Hey, Bella!" Someone called as we reached our lockers. I glanced up to see Jacob waving at me. I smiled and waved back.

Alice sighed, "Figures."

"Why don't you like Jacob?" I was genuinely confused.

Her responding smile was filled with a sort of disgusted anger. I could tell her anger wasn't directed at me though. "It's a story for another time. I'll see you around, okay? Here, take my number and call me later if you want. Maybe we can set up a date." She quickly scrawled her phone number on a piece of paper.

"Alright, bye, I guess." I muttered, stuffing the little rip of paper in my pocket. Jacob had already made his way over to us before Alice could back away.

"Hey, Brandon." His smiled was lewd.

Her eyes narrowed and she just nodded at him before walking away with a slight stomp in her step. I saw Edward standing with Jasper off in the distance. His face was turned in my direction, but I had a feeling he wasn't looking at me. Alice grabbed Jasper's hand and patted Edward's arm gently. He flinched a little under her touch. They all took one last glance at me and then walked around the corner and out of sight.

My confusion was interrupted when Jacob leaned against the locker directly in front of my line of sight.

"How was your first day?"

"It was okay…a little scary, but good."

"That's great, Bells," he beamed and I smiled at his nickname. "Hey, you should come down to the rez with me sometime! The beach is really nice there."

"Okay. Maybe, when our dad's hang out, I can go down and see you."

"Cool. Your dad has my house number if you ever want to give me a call."

"Alright, yeah. I'll do that sometime. Well, I gotta get home. I'll see you around, Jake."

His smile turned blinding and he said a quick goodbye. I had to rush to catch my bus because of my conversation with Jacob. There were only a few seats empty and I grabbed one near the back, placing my back pack next to me. While I waited for the bus to get going, I plugged my headphones into my ears and looked out the window. I got lost in the music when I felt something touch my arm. Glancing to my right, I saw a boy with blonde hair standing in the aisle looking at me. I pulled one of the ear buds out with a little pop.

"Hi. Do you mind if I sit? All the other seats are full."

"Oh, sure." I grabbed my backpack and scooted closer to the window, placing my bag on my lap.

He took a seat next to me and did the same with his backpack. "I'm Mike Newton, by the way."

"Bella Swan."

"Yeah, I know; the chief's daughter."

"That's me," I grimaced, a little embarrassed.

"So, how do you like Forks?"

"It's okay. I haven't seen much of it yet."

He laughed, "There isn't much to see."

"I like it better than Phoenix so far. It's too hot there."

"I know what you mean. I'm originally from California." He smiled.

"Huh. I've never been. How it is there?" I had always wanted to go to California.

He jumped into a detailed description about San Francisco and what it looked like. I was interested and little jealous. It sounded amazing. While he was talking, I saw a boy with reddish hair walking down the sidewalk alone. The dim sunlight glinted off of his lip ring. Edward. My eyes narrowed as I watched him, no longer listening to Mike. His hair covered his face as usual before the wind blew it around and I saw with horror that his face was covered in dark purple bruises. A dark cut sat red and scabbed on his forehead and I felt my stomach drop, the mystery of this strange boy stirring around in my head once again.

"That's Edward Masen. Did you see his bruises?" Mike asked me, apparently noticing where my eyes were.

I nodded, hoping that maybe he knew some piece of information that could help me solve Edward's case.

"There are a bunch of rumors about him. Some people say he's in a gang."

"Are there gangs in Forks?" I gasped.

He laughed again, "No. Most of those rumors are just a bunch of hooey. Everyone says he gets into a lot of fights, but I've never seen him fight anyone…well, except maybe Jacob."

"Jacob _Black_? What happened?" I couldn't contain the curiosity in my voice.

Mike shrugged. "Dunno, really. All I know is that Jacob said something that really pissed him off and then he beat the _shit_ out of him. I mean, Black's a really big guy, but Edward's really tall, so… I just never really thought he had it in him. It was an awesome fight, though. You should have seen it. It was just a normal lunch and then all of a sudden I heard this huge crash and Edward was on top of Jacob pounding his face in. It was nuts."

I was disgusted by the admiration in his voice, but I wanted him to keep talking to I contained it. "Then what happened?"

"Then the principal suspended both of them for a week. I don't really know Edward. He keeps to himself, but I was rooting for him."

"Do you not like Jacob?" I couldn't understand why people seemed to be against him. Jacob seemed like such a nice person.

"No, that's not it. It's just…well, Jacob doesn't think before he talks. He deserved a good kick in the face, if you ask me."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say. It didn't seem likely that Edward was fighting. He didn't even seem to like it when people touched him. I had a bad feeling that it was something at home. I didn't want to say anything to Mike about this. People seemed to think highly of Edward's father…a little too highly.

Mike got off the bus first and then I got off a couple stops later. I was happy to be home as I slid the key into the lock. Today had been exhausting. I headed upstairs to start my homework, wanting to get it out of the way.

My father came home a few hours later and I wanted to talk to him about Edward. I was hoping that maybe he could give me some insight into the situation. I wandered downstairs, trying to act casual as I leaned against the counter. I watched him hang up his gun and jacket and, when he turned to enter the kitchen, he seemed a little startled to see me there.

"Oh, hey, Bella. I didn't hear you come down. How was school?"

"It was good. I made friends with Alice Brandon and Jacob."

He beamed at me. "That's great, sweetheart! I'm happy you and Jacob are getting along."

"Yeah." Our conversation hit a lull, neither of us were big enthusiasts of talking and I decided that I had waited long enough to ask. "Dad?"

Charlie turned back to look at me from the refrigerator. "Hmm?"

"You know what you said in the car? About Edward Masen?"

He stiffened. "Yes, what about him?"

I tried to seem innocent with my wording. "Well, I was wondering what was so bad about him?"

My father became instantly flustered. His face darkened in color and his eyebrows drew down towards his eyes. "He's a bad kid, Bella. He gets into fights and I've caught him several times putting graffiti on school property."

"Well, Mike Newton said he's never seen him get into a fight with anyone. And he has bruises all over his face…you don't think his dad –"

Charlie was furious, "Now you listen to me! Edward Masen is a great man!" I was confused at first, thinking he was still talking about the Edward I knew. "He's a very well known lawyer that's gotten a whole bunch of people in this town out of undeserved trouble. I don't want you to ever say anything bad about him again! I mean it, Bella, or you're grounded."

I was taken aback at his hostility. "Sorry. You don't have to get so defensive. I was just asking. I'm worried about the poor kid. Did you ever think that maybe he gets into trouble for a reason?"

"Oh, he gets in trouble for a reason, alright. The boy wants attention. Didn't you see his lip ring? And his hair! That boy is a punk and I want you away from him. I mean it!"

I was done with this conversation. Pushing myself hard off of the counter I stormed up into my room and slammed the door. My father was clearly being unreasonable about this for some unfathomable reason. Why didn't he see that Edward was clearly in some sort of trouble? He seemed convinced that Edward's father was not the one giving him those injuries, but I wasn't so sure. The only thing I couldn't understand was why didn't anyone else realize what was happening? I made up my mind to talk to him tomorrow at school. I didn't care if he didn't want to talk to me; I was getting to the bottom of this, dammit! I was going to help him whether he wanted me to or not.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading. Love to hear from you so go ahead and click the little box below if you want. :)


	3. For Reasons Unknown

**A/N: **Hello, everyone! I would like to say thank you again for all of the support you guys are wonderful. I'm so excited to have this story up here; it's been trapped in my head for a very long time. Here's the next chapter, enjoy!

…

Chapter 3: For Reasons Unknown

"Masen. I was born a Masen, raised a Masen. It was my surname, my 'treasure' and duty as the only child, only male, to pass it on. And yet my name was a curse, bestowed upon me from the one I hated most: my father."

~Edward Masen, Jr.

…

There were times in my life where I didn't understand why I was even still alive. Today was one of them.

"You little son of a bitch!" my father roared. I was in my room, curled up in a ball on my bed. My day had been rough, to say the least. Why would I ever think that a girl could actually just look at me like a normal human being? I was worthless. Of course she only wanted to know me because she wanted to know what was _wrong _with me. How could I have been so stupid? And then there was Alice who now knew my secret thanks to Jasper. He said she needed to know. I didn't know why…no one needed to know about this. I didn't have anything against the girl, I just didn't know her. I didn't understand why she had to be filled in on the personal details of my life.

At this point, when my father had come storming into my bedroom well past midnight, I had already been hoping to die. I may as well let it happen. After all, what was there to live for? I had nothing.

His hands wrapped around my neck and he dragged me off of the bed, throwing me hard to the ground. I could smell the liquor around him like a toxic cloud. _Please_, was my only thought. It hadn't been the first time I had wished for death; I only wished it would be my last.

"Why can't you just die!?" he snarled, his foot stomping into my stomach. It seemed me and my father actually _could_ agree on something. Suddenly, I was gripped with a powerful urge to fight back. It wasn't because I had changed my mind, because I wanted to get away. It was because I wanted to infuriate him. I_ wanted him to kill me._

So I did; I kicked him in the leg. His balanced had already been off so when my foot connected with his calf, he tumbled hard to the ground. I watched with joyous satisfaction when his head smacked against the corner of the bureau, and that satisfaction turned to bitter irony when I realized I had knocked him out cold.

"Fuck!" I said out loud to no one and dragged his limp, unconscious form into his own room. I didn't want him in mine while I slept. My feet dragged across the floor as I made my way to the bathroom, contemplating just ending it all now. Standing in front of the mirror, I stared at myself in disgust. My hands pushed my chin length hair aside so I could fully glare into my furious eyes. Why? Why did life have to be this way!? I grabbed a pair of scissors off of the counter, opening them and placing the cross of metal against my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I ignored it at first, my trembling hand pushing the blades against my neck. All I would have to do is _snip_ and it's over. It will all be over. My phone vibrated again. I pushed the metal tighter against my skin, crushing my esophagus and making it difficult to breathe…not that I was able to anyway. Just close the scissors and it's over. My phone vibrated again.

I threw the pair with an aggravated shout into the sink, grabbing my phone. A picture of Jasper and his name appeared on my screen. With a sigh, I answered the call.

"Hey," I muttered.

"You're dad in bed yet?" His voice held an excited undertone. He was up to something. It had better be fucking good.

"Something like that."

"Good. Meet me and Alice at the abandoned tracks in fifteen minutes."

I was interested now. We only went there when there was something really good happening. "What's going on?"

"Oh, you'll find out."

The call ended and I stared at my phone for a few seconds, debating. My eyes wandered down to the pair of scissors still lying open in the sink. My eyes narrowed. _Another time then_, I thought to myself.

I moved into my room with determination, quickly throwing on my Chucks and my black hoodie. I grabbed my house keys, stuffing them in my pocket before I ran down the stairs and outside. I grabbed my old as shit ten-speed and began to peddle down the road, into town. Forks was asleep as I road soundlessly through the avenues and streets. It began to rain and I pulled my hood over my head, hoping Jasper started the bonfire under some sort of cover. I found the tracks quickly and began to follow them north towards our spot. There, in the distance, was a faint gloom of flickering light. When the dirt turned to mud under the splashing water, I drove my bike on the tracks instead of next to them. It was only five minutes later before I pulled up to two dark figures huddled under a large pine; the fire they had built had already been extinguished by the rain.

"Don't you watch the weather?" I mumbled, stowing my bike on the trunk next to them.

Jasper snickered. "Like I don't already know what it's going to say."

I rolled my eyes, looking at the smoking pile of wood and ash.

"Don't worry, my friend. I came prepared." He pointed to a small red container of gasoline sitting next to an over filled backpack.

"You're going to burn the whole fucking forest down."

"Not if we're careful." We had already built a fire pit of sorts made of different sized rocks in a circle. He grabbed some dry sticks and began to build a little tepee. I bent down to help.

"So what do you have planned?"

"A small party of epic proportions," Jasper grinned, grabbing the gasoline and dribbling it on top of the wood, careful not to get any on him or me. He pulled out a matchbox, lit one, and threw it in. The wood caught immediately. Alice tiptoed in the mud to sit next to us by the fire; her usual spiked hair was slicked down from the rain. She looked like a drowned rat. I laughed at her.

"What?" Her large blue eyes looked up at me slightly offended and slight amused.

"You look miserable."

"I _hate_ the rain, always have. I grew up in Portland. It's not much better there, trust me."

I smiled, "I've never minded the rain. It's kinda nice." I tilted my head back to let the drops splash against my hair covered skin. Pulling my hood down, I tied my hair back with a rubber band, happy to finally be free from its paralyzing veil. Alice's breath caught for a second, seeing my face fully for the first time. My smile fell, and I looked at the fire.

"It's not as bad as it looks," I said.

Jasper sighed.

I changed the subject. "So why are we here, Jaz? Really?"

He grinned, distracted. "I'll show you." I watched with contemplative eyes as he reached for the overflowing backpack and pulled it onto his lap. He unzipped it and pulled out a plethora of mostly illegal items.

I raised my eyebrows, "That's quite a collection." He had placed the items in front of me and I took stock of each one: a carton of Marlboro cigarettes, a bottle of Vodka, a bottle of Rum, two small bottles of Jagermeister, a two liter of Coke, three red Solo cups, a baggy half filled with Marijuana, a pack of blunt raps, a bowl, a five pack of Bic lighters, a small baggy filled with various pills, and, to top it off, six bags of Lays potato chips.

"Where the _hell_ did you get all of this? That bag of weed must have cost a fortune in of itself."

"Well, the dope and pills were stashed in my sister's room. I'm almost positive she's keeping them 'safe' for Royce. The Coke and snacks were from Alice. The carton of Marlboros and lighters I took from my mom's 'secret' stash. The booze is from my dad's endless liquor cabinet, and I bought the blunt raps and bowl from that sketchy smoke shop just outside of town. He didn't even ask me how old I was." Jasper smiled in triumph.

"Jesus. What's the occasion?" I asked.

"We're celebrating."

"I'm getting sick of your open ended comments, Jasper." I picked up the carton of cigarettes and marveled at them at them. _I wonder…_

He put his hands up in defense. "Calm down, tiger." Suddenly, his face turned devilish. A slow and dangerous smile appeared on his young face, "We're running away."

Abruptly, Alice burst into tears and my eyes widened in response to both of them.

"What the hell do you mean? Run away _where_!?" I demanded, glancing uncomfortably at his girlfriend. The rain died down then and the woods around us became eerily silent.

He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me, before turning to Alice to comfort her. I read it over while they spoke in quiet whispers. It was a printed out pamphlet of sorts about Los Angeles.

"Dude, we wouldn't even make it half way to California. And what's even there for us, anyway?"

"What's _here_ for us, Edward?"

I had no answer to that. I stared unseeingly out into the dark trees, hiding the small town I liked to call hell. I nodded slowly, "I guess…I guess you're right." How could it possibly be any worse than here? After all, it may just be an easy way to get myself killed.

Alice was still sobbing. I decided at this point that I couldn't ignore her tears anymore. "Are you okay, Alice?" She was curled up in a ball with her head pressed against her knees. Jasper was rubbing her back and whispering in her ear.

Her head shook furiously from side to side, rubbing against the rough fabric of her jeans.

Jasper spoke for her. "She's upset because I'm leaving."

"Why can't she come with us?" I was genuinely confused.

Jasper sighed, sadly. "Because she can't leave her parents or her little sister. Plus she's afraid of what could happen."

"That makes sense," I nodded.

Alice hiccupped and picked her head up. Tears were drying against her face while new ones were budding in her eyes. "I don't think it's a good idea. You guys are going to get in trouble or get hurt."

I tried to smile reassuringly at her while I beat down my morbid excitement at the thought. "Jasper and I will be fine. We know how to handle ourselves."

"But not each other, so you don't have to worry about that either, babe." Jasper winked at her.

Alice's little eyebrows sunk over her eyes for a fraction of a second before she realized what he was referring to. She burst out laughing, the tears long forgotten from her face. I nodded my approval at Jasper while she giggled hysterically. After a few seconds Jasper began to chuckle at her infectious laugh. I smiled a little.

They finally calmed down two minutes and a relapse later. Jasper breathed heavily and glanced at me. "You never laugh, man. Since I've known you, I've never heard you laugh once." His smiled faded away from his face.

As did mine, "It's funny you say that. I don't ever remember laughing. I'm not even sure I know what it feels like." I sighed. "Before you moved here and we started being friends, I really never had anyone to talk to. I never really felt the need to laugh at anything. I never really watched TV – I don't like to go downstairs, and all the books I've read never warranted any humor on my part." Jasper eyes widened and Alice's face fell.

"You've never laughed?" It didn't seem to make sense to Jasper. His eyebrows lowered in disbelief.

"I'm sure I have. I just don't remember."

"How can you live that way?" Alice whispered.

"Honestly…I've never even thought about it until now," I said. My eyes fell to my lap and I had a strong urge to pull the elastic from my hair. I resisted.

Suddenly, Jasper was excited again. "Well, I know just how to fix that problem." He snatched the bag filled with green buds. "Would you prefer a joint or bowl?"

A little flutter of nerves built up my stomach. I shrugged, not having the slightest idea.

He hummed to himself in consideration. "We'll start with a joint. I hear it's not as strong."

"Have you ever done this?"

Jasper smiled at me, "Only once. I smoked a bowl that time."

"How was it?"

"It was…strange. But it was really fun and I wanted to do it again."

I nodded, looking at Alice. "What about you?"

She blushed, ducking her head. "Nope."

"Looks like we're getting our cherries popped then."

Jasper laughed as he broke the pieces of weed and placed them neatly in a line down the center of the blunt wrap. I watched him curiously, as did Alice. After the line had been filled to the end, he grabbed the unglued end and began to curl it around the buds before raising the little paper to his mouth, licking the free edge and rolling that tightly over the rest. I stared at the bumpy little piece of paper. It was very lopsided. Alice giggled.

"Okay, okay. It's not the best, but it'll get the job done, hopefully." He looked at us, "Who's hitting it first?"

I snatched it from him, careful not to crush it, and grabbed a lighter.

"Do you even know how to do it?" Jasper asked.

I glared at him. "I'm not an idiot."

He put his hands up in defense. "Jesus. Well, go ahead then."

I stared at the joint for a second, my heart beating a little faster and placed the paper between my lips. _What the hell?_ Alice and Jasper were staring at me with wide, excited eyes. My thumb flicked the flint of the lighter and I was met with a sudden burst of light. My hand edged closer to the tip of the blunt and I sucked air through my mouth. A thick, earthy taste washed over my tongue and smoke shot down my throat. It was so thick and strong; I had to fight back the urge to swallow it.

"Keep it in your lungs for as long as you can," Jasper said wisely and I nodded my head at him. My face twisted as I fought to hold the burning coughs inside of my mouth for just a second longer. Finally, they broke through and I coughed and sputtered, gasping for air through a burning throat. Jasper chuckled at me.

"You should take another drag and then pass it," he said. "Keep it in for longer, you goddamn pussy."

I rolled my eyes at him and reached for the bottle of Coke. "That shit it rough." My voice was scratchy from irritation. I took another drag as he commanded and passed the joint and lighter along to him. I made myself concentrate on opening the lid of the Coca-Cola and pouring it into my cup instead of the urge to breathe and release the smoke. Finally, I could take no more. I puffed the breath out and noted that barely any smoke came out.

Jasper, whose face resembled a blowfish, nodded his approval at me. He blew out the smoke with a puff and said, "That was much better. You'll feel it in no time."

I leaned back against a tree and sipped on my Coke. When Jasper passed the half gone blunt, Alice took it with shaking hands. She grabbed the little paper, and placed it between her lips. I narrowed into her. My eyes focused directly on her face. I watched her lips curl around the little paper, I watched the flame burst and shine in her eyes. I watched her pull the smoke into her lungs and she held it. It must have been hours and hours before she finally released the cloud of smoke. My eyes flickered to watch it and it seemed as if the world shifted. My body felt light for the first time ever. I felt like I could fly. It felt like I was the smoke swirling in the air above me. I also felt really warm. The fire burning in front of me made me feel like I was burning with it. My world shifted again as I turned my eyes to the dancing flames. Something lightly grazed my arm, and for the first time ever, I didn't jump from the contact. I saw the pretty girl with black hair smile at me with a mouth full of braces. She held the joint and lighter between her fingers and she handed them to me. I smiled hugely and lazily at her, taking what she offered.

"Thanks, Ali. I'm gonna call you Ali, because that's really cool."

Her eyes widened and she smiled. "Whoa…that _is_ really cool."

"Oh, man. Oh, man, we gotta come up with a nickname for you, man. I'm Jaz, she's Ali, but who are you?" Jasper asked and my eyes shifted to him. I found my focus on his face.

My eyebrows lowered. "What do you mean? I'm…Edward."

He laughed a deep, body shaking laugh. It looked strange – like he was vibrating. "Yeah, you're Edward. But…we gotta think of a new name, a cool name like ours."

"Um. Like what?" I asked, suddenly remembering that I held the joint in my hands. I took another drag and passed it to him.

"Hmm." It was silent for a very long time. All of us were thinking very hard. After a moment I forgot what we were talking about and began to think about a brown haired girl with pretty eyes and a soft smile.

"Oh! I got it!" Jasper's voice was filled with excitement. I didn't have the faintest idea of what he was talking about.

"Got what?" I mumbled, taking a sip of my drink. I half expected it to be flat. It had been so long since I last had a sip….Right?

"You're _name_, dude. What your name is."

I looked up at him, remembering. "We were talking about that so long ago. That was so long ago, why are you even still thinking about that?"

He laughed, "No…that was like…five minutes ago."

"What?" I gasped, disbelieving. "That's crazy. No way."

"Yeah, dude. Like _five_ minutes ago. I swear to god."

"That's so crazy, dude. That felt like…hours ago." My eyes zoned in on his face once more, and my leg started bouncing. I took another sip of my drink. My throat was so dry.

"I know, man. It's so easy to lose track of time. But your name…" he gave me a very pointed look, "Is Eddie."

"Dude…_fuck_ that." I mumbled. Eddie was an awful name.

"I kinda like it…Eddie," Alice said, smiling.

I snorted and Jasper's eyebrows raised. "Hey, that was something," he said.

"Don't get used to it. Besides…it's not even real." I took another sip of my drink.

Jasper wasn't fazed. "We'll get you to laugh don't worry."

"Hrmph. Well, maybe." I changed the subject. "What do you guys think of Bella?"

"I think it was annoying how she wouldn't leave you alone," Jasper muttered.

"I like her. She's nice," Alice beamed.

"I don't know how I feel about her. She was so cool at that dinner at the Cullen's place and then she was being really rude at school." I fiddled with a string hanging from the hem of my hoodie.

"I honestly just think she was trying to help and didn't really realize." Alice patted my arm.

"Realize what?" My eyes flickered up to hers, getting lost in the deep blue that was her eyes.

"The magnitude of the situation, of course." Alice's eyes seemed to get lost in mine as well. We stared at each other for a long time. Jasper, who didn't seem to notice, wrapped his arm around Alice and broke her trance. She leaned her head against him with a happy smile. I felt a pang of jealously – not of Jasper, but of the both of them. What it would be like to be so comfortable in one's own skin to be the way they were so quickly in their relationship. I stared at the space just over their heads and got lost in the darkness of the trees.

Suddenly, bright lights were shining into the forest around us. We all jumped to our feet, Jasper stuffing the illegal objects deep in his bag.

"Come out of there!" came a loud, triumphant voice.

"It's the chief!" I whispered furiously.

Alice's eyes were huge and Jasper glanced between her and me furiously. I shook my head at him.

"Get her home. I'll handle it." The buzz of the marijuana was suddenly far from my mind and everything seemed crystal clear.

"What are you going to do?" Jasper demanded.

"Just get her and the massive amount of weed out of here." I argued. He deliberated for an eternity and then grabbed his girlfriend's arm and sprinted into the trees, backpack equipped. I took a deep breath, pulled the elastic from my hair, and stepped directly into the beam of light.

Without any warning, there was a ripping shock in my stomach, my eyes rolled back into my head, and the world turned black.

…

I awoke on a hard bed. My head was throbbing dully and my mouth felt extremely dry. I glanced around myself and a sinking feeling became very present in my stomach. I was in a jail cell. I saw my father from behind the thick metal bars speaking furiously to the chief. A younger man in a police uniform stepped in front of my line of sight.

"Your bail has been posted. You're free to go," he said, sliding the bars away to let me out. I walked gingerly from the cell, rubbing my hand against my arm nervously. I glanced briefly at my father who was still preoccupied with Charlie. I shuttered and I walked towards the exit of the small police station. By the time I made it outside, I felt a large and very firm hand grasp at my shoulder. I turned, flinching. My father stood a few inches above my face, his anger and intoxication shining brightly from his furious eyes. I noticed with a stab of fear that he had a bandage on his head.

"No thanks?" he growled.

"For what?" I spat back at him.

He grabbed my throat. "For bailing your sorry ass out of _jail_. You deserved more than a tazing."

"Charlie _tazed_ me?" I thought about this for a moment. It was so ridiculous. I came out of the woods with my hands raised, and he tazed me. I shook my head, and a strange bubble built up in my throat and a strange noise erupted from my mouth. I was laughing. I was actually laughing. Granted, the drugs probably hadn't worn off completely from my mind, but I was still laughing and it felt so fucking good. My father's eyes narrowed deeply and he smacked me hard against the face. I fell back to the ground, the bubble of laughter dying away, the humor suddenly gone.

"Get in the car." His voice was a snarl and I obeyed without question.

His voice said it all. There will be hell to pay when we got home.

…

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!


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